Sam Webster, M. Div., Mage, hails from the Bay Area and has taught magick publicly since 1984. He graduated from Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley in 1993. He is now a PhD candidate at the University of Bristol, UK, studying Pagan history under Prof. Ronald Hutton. He is an Adept of the Golden Dawn, a cofounder of the Chthonic-Ouranian Templar order, and an initiate of Wiccan, Druidic, Buddhist, Hindu and Masonic traditions.

Pagan artist, witch, animist, and host of "Down at the Crossroads" a podcast that features one on one interviews and discussions with today’s most influential Pagan artists, authors, musicians, teachers, leaders, bloggers, podcasters, and more! Exploring topics that will turn the Pagan community on its head in an attempt to gain a new perspective on life, all while hearing some great music by today’s greatest Pagan and Pagan inspired musicians and bands.Down at the Crossroads is where today’s Paganism crosses paths with the world!

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Sam Webster bases his claim on the Christian church being his enemy. Yet he makes the mistake of perpetuating the way the debate is framed by his enemy: that Jesus Christ is incompatible with Pagan gods (like Mithras, Osiris, Dionysus, Sol Invictus, Attis, Adonis, Tammuz, Krishna, et al), despite the fact that the Christ mythology has lifted nearly all its important elements from them. It is the same mistake that Satanists make when they merely invert the Christian dogma that they claim to despise, rather than doing away with it altogether.

Jin The Ninja

totally agree. a dogmatic, fundamentalist view of christianity is not compatible with paganism for obvious reasons. but a narrow-minded, contemptuous view of the innate pagan tradition of christianity, well he should be embarassed to have written that article. i find it really anti-intellectual- and amusing- that after all those classes on comparative theology- he doesn’t see how much reconstructed traditions borrowed from catholicism, gnosticism. how much gardner and crowley borrowed from western ceremonial magick which is founded on a judeo-christian worldview. it’s also as if spiritual churches, gnostic christians, and ATR practitioners simply don’t exist. not to mention his masonic and thelemic background.

i believe they call that narrow-minded and myopic. exclusionary. culturally western hegemony. many buddhist scholars find paganism and buddhism wholly incompatible. paganism is a reconstruction, and while it may draw elements from prior practices, one can’t pretend its epistemological origins are cemented in an unbroken, longstanding tradition or practice.

even the descriptor of ‘priest’ which he uses, is etymologically derived from a word referring to jewish and early christian church ‘elders.’

Jin The Ninja

i also want to add to what tchoutye says above re: jesus being derived from other mythological archetypes common in the classical world (and ancient world) yes, totally agree. many people have written about the parallels. hermes- in both greek and roman religion was syncretised to numerous figures, and later to jesus himself- so you could make an argument that ‘worship’ of hermes is a kind of gnostic ‘worship’ of JC. which is also kind of amusing.

https://twitter.com/anti_euclidean ÿ

that gets two upvotes, good ninja

Jin The Ninja

thank you!

it was all the pent-up frustration reading the article the first time, when i was going through the archives on patheos, if they were going to interview someone why not rhyd wildermuth who could bring some fresh, radical, anarchist perspective to paganism? i’m not even pagan, but that column was just ridiculous.

It was only a matter of time before everyone and their aunty decided they were entitled to their own line!!

And look, the disciples of Euclid have created a system that can only be gamed with “predictable” results by providing aid and comfort to the imaginary lines!!!

ÿ joke
but it is no laughing matter

https://twitter.com/anti_euclidean ÿ

To study the history, promote the culture, and advance the social welfare of Pagans and the Pagan community. Sam Webster, M. Div., Mage, hails from the Bay Area and has taught magick publicly since 1984. He graduated from Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley in 1993. He is now a PhD candidate at the University of Bristol, UK, studying Pagan history under Prof. Ronald Hutton. He is an Adept of the Golden Dawn, a cofounder of the Chthonic-Ouranian Templar order, and an initiate of Wiccan, Druidic, Buddhist, Hindu and Masonic traditions.

Nice resume
…ÿ guess…
But so much
wasted energy
down
down
duh kozmic whippet
for ⸘this‽